Page 84 of His Innocent for One Spanish Night

‘Doyou?’

He said it too harshly, still unused to switching those turned-off emotions back on, but his question was a loaded one—and it was not just about ending the phone call.

Work was not enough to distract him.

And, in the city that never slept, when usually he’d be taking his guests to a smart private club, Alejandro found himself back in his suite.

Unable to sleep.

The website wasn’t yet live, but he logged in and looked at it. Emily’s work was incredible. And then he saw pictures coming in on Carmen’s social media, of the pre-launch party on the rooftop, the church spire in the background, the sun setting the sky on fire, and he felt more homesick than he had ever thought he was capable of being.

No, it washersick—because she was wearing that grey top she had worn the night they’d first met.

Emily was smiling for the camera, but he could tell she’d been crying. And he felt a little mean that this insight pleased him because he hoped her tears were for him.

In the small hours—way before sunrise—it dawned on him that in trying to protect her from the backlash if he and Mariana’s family found out about them, he might well have damaged her.

God, he had never ached to speak with another person more in his life.

Alejandro really wasn’t one for making emotional phone calls, but he managed to convince himself he had a good reason to call—after all the website was going live today, and it would look childish if he didn’t call to congratulate her.

He couldn’t get through.

So he called his long-suffering PA, but she couldn’t get through to Emily either.

His suite was warm, but he felt a chill of foreboding as he recalled his own words.

‘My family don’t always play nice...’

Yet Carmen was being...nice.

And Sebastián too, agreeing to a sudden pre-launch party.

While celebrations were commonplace at the bodega, he didn’t understand his brother signing off on it, or his sister suggesting it, when they were so worried about their father...

Alejandro called his brother. ‘Hey,’ he said, ‘how’s Padre?’

‘Doing well.’

‘Put him on.’

‘He’s asleep.’

‘Or is that me?’ Alejandro checked. ‘Am I the one asleep at the wheel? You’re not in Madrid, are you...?’

‘Since when did I have to check in with you?’ Sebastián responded, and hung up.

Alejandro knew then that his hunch was right—he should have protected Emily better.

His father would have told Carmen that he had declined to marry Mariana, and Carmen would have told Sebastián about Emily.

Sebastián had never really been worried about their father moving to a hospice—it had all been a ruse to get Alejandro away.

Carmen dropping in with photos and being nice to Emily...?

Sebastián, whose mind was always on business, suddenly desperate to get home...?

Alejandro had known that he needed to protect Emily. That if word got out about them it would not be received well.

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